1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to line feed systems and, more particularly, to line feed systems to handle and transport containers or racks containing manufacturing components.
2. Description of the Currently Available Technology
An ongoing need in industrial applications that utilize a production line is to provide an efficient and inexpensive way of delivering parts to a worker on the production line. In the automotive industry, for example, a worker on the production line requires a large number of individual parts to be delivered in a timely and uninterrupted manner. These parts are typically placed in a rack or container and delivered to the worker via a conveyor system. In order to facilitate parts delivery, automated line feed systems have been developed. Examples of known automated line feed systems include so-called over/under line feed systems (in which one conveyor is located under another conveyor) or side-by-side line feed systems (in which one conveyor is located adjacent to another conveyor).
In order to move the containers or racks containing the parts along the conveyors, some conventional automated line feed systems utilize an indexing rail system in which indexing rails extend along the length of the conveyor path. To move or index a rack along the conveyor, these indexing rails are activated to lift and move a rack a finite distance with each cycle of the indexing rails. In order to move a rack along the length of the conveyor, the indexing rails must be cycled numerous times.
Other known automated line feed systems utilize carts having driven wheels. However, these wheel-driven carts also have disadvantages. For example, the wheels can slip or lose traction if the cart is accelerated or decellerated too quickly.
While these known line feed systems are adequate for their intended use, it would be advantageous to provide an automated line feed system having a simpler and more efficient transportation means to move racks along the conveyor. Particularly, it would be advantageous to provide an automated line feed system having a conveyor system with which a rack could be transported any distance along the conveyor path and not just a fixed, finite amount. It would also be advantageous to provide an automated line feed system having a cart that could be accelerated and decelerated to a greater degree than known carts without the problems of slipping and loss of traction associated with known carts.